Visual research methods—image-based techniques for collecting, analyzing, and explaining data—are not mainstream in the social scientific study of religion. Few sociologists employ them, fewer still to study religion. While mainstream qualitative and quantitative methods have much to offer, words and numbers alone may miss important dimensions of religion and spirituality in the contemporary world. This research note provides an overview of work on the most commonly used visual research technique in the sociology of religion: photo elicitation (PE). We frame our essay around four questions. What is visual sociology? What is photo elicitation? How has PE been used in the social scientific study of religion? And how else could this technique be utilized in religious research?
AmmermanNancy TEveryday religion: Observing modern religious lives2007New York, NYOxford University Press
2.
AmmermanNancy TSacred stories, spiritual tribes: Religion and spirituality in everyday life2013New YorkOxford University Press
3.
AmmermanNancy TWilliamsRoman RBerzanoLRiisOPSpeaking of methods: Eliciting religious narratives through interviews, photos, and oral diariesAnnual review of the sociology of religion, volume 3: New methods in the sociology of religion2012Leiden, The NetherlandsBrill117–13410.1163/9789047429470_007
4.
Andersson, Mette. 2009. Religion in Inner City Oslo. Street Signs Spring: 5-7.
5.
BanksMarcusUsing visual data in qualitative research2007Thousand Oaks, CASAGE Publications
6.
BeckerHowardPhotography and sociologyStudies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication1974113–2610.1525/var.1974.1.1.3
7.
ClarkAndrewPinkSarahVisual ethics in a contemporary landscapeAdvances in visual methodologies2012Thousand Oaks, CASage17–3610.4135/9781446250921.n2
8.
ClarkCindy DellThe autodriven interview: A photographic viewfinder into children's experienceVisual Sociology19991439–5010.1080/14725869908583801
9.
CollierJohnPhotography in anthopology: A report on two experimentsAmerican Anthropologist1957595843–85910.1525/aa.1957.59.5.02a00100
10.
CollierJohnVisual anthropology: Photography as a research method1967New YorkHolt, Rinehart, and Winston
11.
CollierJohnCollierMalcolmVisual anthropology: Photography as a research method1986Albuquerque, NMUniversity of New Mexico Press
12.
DayKatieFaith on the avenue: religion on a city street2014New York, NYOxford University Press10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860029.001.0001
13.
DunlopSarahVisualising hope: Exploring the spirituality of young people in central and Eastern Europe2008CambridgeYTC Press
14.
DunlopSarahWardPeteFrom obligation to consumption in two-and-a-half hours: A visual exploration of the sacred with young Polish migrantsJournal of Contemporary Religion2012273433–45110.1080/13537903.2012.722037
15.
de RoestHendrik Pieter‘Losing a Common Space to Connect': An inquiry into inside perspectives on church closure using visual methodsInternational Journal of Practical Theology2013172292–31310.1515/ijpt-2013-0018
16.
EdgellPennyA cultural sociology of religion: New directionsAnnual Review of Sociology201238247–26510.1146/annurev-soc-071811-145424
17.
GaneshTirupalavanam GMargolisEPauwelsLChildren-produced drawings: An interpretive and analytical tool for researchersThe SAGE handbook of visual research methods2011SAGE PublicationsThousand Oaks, CA214–24010.4135/9781446268278.n12
18.
GradyJohnThe scope of visual sociologyVisual Sociology199611210–2410.1080/14725869608583762
19.
HarperDouglasVisual sociology: Expanding sociological visionThe American Sociologist198819154–7010.1007/BF02692374
20.
HarperDouglasSeeing sociologyThe American Sociologist199627369–7810.1007/BF02692041
21.
HarperDouglasTalking about pictures: A case for photo elicitationVisual Studies200217113–2610.1080/14725860220137345
22.
HarperDouglasVisual sociology2012New York, NYRoutledge
23.
HeisleyDeborah DLevySidney JAutodriving: A photoelicitation techniqueThe Journal of Consumer Research1991183257–27210.1086/209258
24.
HintzeBenjaminVassendenAndersHewittRogerSkiftouVickyMigration and traces of religious architecture in European areas: Perceptions of youthsDiskurs Kindheits- und Jungendforschung Heft20084385–400
25.
HoganSusanPinkSarahPinkSVisualizing interior worlds: Interdisciplinary routes to knowingAdvances in visual methodology2013Thousand Oaks, CASAGE Publications230–247
26.
HurworthRosalindThe use of the visual medium for program evaluationStudies in Qualitative Methodology20047163–181
27.
JacksonRobertNesbittEleanorHindu children in Britain1993Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, EnglandTrentham Books
28.
Josephsohn, Tomas. 2007. Branding faith: Objects of consumerism in religious identity construction. Unpublished masters thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia.
29.
Jules-RosetteBennettaAfrican apostles: Ritual and conversion in the church of John Maranke1975Ithica, NYCornell University Press
30.
Jules-RosetteBennettaCeremonial trance behavior in an African church: Private experience and public expressionJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion1980191–1610.2307/1386013
31.
KraseJeromeShortellTimothySeeing difference: Spatial semiotics of ethnic and class identity in global citiesVisual Communication2011103367–40010.1177/1470357211408821
32.
KreinathJensDiscursive formation, ethnographic encounter, photographic evidence: The Centenary of Durkheim's basic forms of religious life and the anthropological study of Australian aboriginal religion in his timeVisual Anthropology201225367–42010.1080/08949468.2012.720910
33.
KriegerMartin HUrban tomographies2011Philadelphia, PAUniversity of Pennsylvania Press10.9783/9780812204940
34.
LamPui-YanMay the force of the operating system be with you: Macintosh devotion as implicit religionSociology of Religion200162243–26210.2307/3712458
35.
LyndRobert SLyndHelen MMiddletown, a study in contemporary American culture1929New York, NYHarcourt, Brace
36.
McClintockSSThe Kentucky Mountains and their feuds I: The people and their countryThe American Journal of Sociology1901711–2810.1086/211030
37.
McDannellColeenPicturing faith: Photography and the great depression2004New Haven, CTYale University Press10.12987/yale/9780300104301.001.0001
38.
McGuireMeredithLived religion: Faith and practice in everyday life2008New York, NYOxford University Press10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172621.001.0001
MorganDavidPromeySally MMorganDPromeySIntroductionThe visual culture of American religions2001Berkeley and Los Angeles, CAUniversity of California Press1–26
41.
NardellaCarloReligious symbols in Italian advertising: Symbolic appropriation and the management of consentJournal of Contemporary Religion2012272217–24010.1080/13537903.2012.675689
42.
NesbittEleanorPhotographing worship: Ethnographic study of children's participation in acts of worshipVisual Anthropology19935285–30610.1080/08949468.1993.9966594
43.
NesbittEleanorThe religious lives of sikh children: A coventry based study2000LeedsUniversity of Leeds
44.
NesbittEleanorLewisALindsayGResearching 8 to 13-year-olds’ perspectives on their experience of religionResearching children's perspectives2000BuckinghamOpen University Press135–149
45.
Notermans, Catrien, and Heleen Kommers. 2012. Researching religion: The iconographic elicitation method. Qualitative Research. doi:10.1177/1468794112459672.
46.
PauwelsLucMargolisEPauwelsLAn integrated conceptual framework for visual social researchThe SAGE handbook of visual research methods2011Thousand Oaks, CASAGE Publications3–2310.4135/9781446268278.n1
47.
RiegerJonHoward Becker's summer workshop in visual sociology: A personal viewVisual Studies1986115–810.1080/14725868608583562
RichterPhilipSunday: A photo essay2007SalisburyLucidity
50.
RidgelySusan BRidgelySMaybe the picture will tell you: Methods for hearing children's perspectives on religionThe study of children in religions: A methods handbook2011New York, LondonNew York University Press80–94
51.
RoweJeremyMargolisEricPauwelsLucLegal issues of using images in researchThe SAGE handbook of visual research methods2011Thousand Oaks, CASAGE Publications707–72210.4135/9781446268278.n37
52.
SamuelsJefferyBreaking the ethnographer's frames: Reflections on the use of photo elicitation in understanding Sri Lankan monastic cultureAmerican Behavioral Scientist200447121528–155010.1177/0002764204266238
53.
SamuelsJefferyStanczakGWhen words are not enough: Eliciting children's experiences of Buddhist monastic life through photographsVisual research methods: Image, society, and representation2007Thousand Oaks, CASAGE Publications197–224
54.
SamuelsJefferyAttracting the heart: Social relations and the aesthetics of emotion in Sri Lankan monastic culture2010Honolulu, HIUniversity of Hawaii Press
55.
SavageSaraCollins-MayoSylviaMayoBobCrayGrahamMaking sense of generation Y: The world view of 15- to 25-year-olds2006LondonChurch House Publishing
56.
SchnettlerBerntRaabJürgenInterpretative visual analysis developments: State of the art and pending problemsHistorical Social Research2009342265–295
57.
SchwartzenbergSusanThe personal archive as historical recordVisual Studies200520170–8210.1080/14725860500064920
58.
StaszClariceWagnerJThe early history of visual sociologyImages of information: Still photography in the social sciences1979Beverly Hills, CASAGE Publications119–136
59.
StrykerRoy EmersonWoodNancyIn this proud land: America 1935-1943 as seen in the FSA photographs1973Greenwich, CTNew York Graphic Society
60.
SucharCharles SGrounding visual sociology research in shooting scriptsQualitative Sociology199720133–5310.1023/A:1024712230783
61.
ThomasWilliam IThomasDorothy SwaineThe child in America: Behavior problems and programs1928New YorkAlfred A. Knopf
62.
VassendenAndersAnderssonMetteWhen an image becomes sacred: Photo-elicitation with images of holy booksVisual Studies201025149–16110.1080/1472586X.2010.502672
63.
VergaraCamilo JoseHow the other half worships2005New Brunswick, NJRutgers University Press
64.
WagnerJonMargolisEPauwelsLSeeing things: Visual research and material cultureThe SAGE handbook of visual research methods2011Thousand Oaks, CASAGE72–9510.4135/9781446268278.n4
65.
WangCarolineBurrisMary AnnPhotovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessmentEducation Health and Behavior1997243369–38710.1177/109019819702400309
66.
WilesRoseClarkAndrewProsserJohnMargolisEricPauwelsLucVisual research ethics at the crossroadsThe SAGE handbook of visual research methods2011Thousand Oaks, CASAGE685–70610.4135/9781446268278.n36
67.
Williams, Roman R. 2010a. God's global professionals: International students, evangelical Christianity, and the idea of a calling. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Department of Sociology, Boston University, Boston, MA.
68.
WilliamsRoman RSpace for God: Lived religion at work, home, and playSociology of Religion201071257–27910.1093/socrel/srq048
69.
WilliamsRoman RConstructing a calling: The case of evangelical Christian international students in the United StatesSociology of Religion2013742254–28010.1093/socrel/srs054
70.
WilliamsRoman RVisual Sociology, by Douglas Harper; Doing Visual Research, by Claudia Mitchell, and Advances in Visual Methodology, by Sarah PinkSociology of Religion2014751167–16910.1093/socrel/sru005
